


No Matter What

by DanniAuttumns



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Animal Death, Eddie is just putting a lot of things in his mouth folks, Eddie thinks Venom is dead and is sad, Gen, Loss, M/M, Other, but not like big animals, eating living things, not all of them should be there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 02:25:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16610114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanniAuttumns/pseuds/DanniAuttumns
Summary: Set between the time Venom sacrifices itself and the end of the movie. I wanted to write angst and make people cry and stuff.





	No Matter What

**Goodbye, Eddie.**

 

No two words his ripped Eddie’s heart out as fast, because he knew _, he knew_ , what it meant. He could feel it in his chest when the symbiote left, eyes wide with absolute fear. Not that he was about to die when he hit the water, but for the flames licking off Venom's dark oily body. Sacrificing itself. For him.

 

Venom had saved his life more times in the short time that they'd known each other than he felt he deserved.

 

So many regrets. It wasn't nearly enough time together. The closest relationship he'd ever had and now it was-

 

He hit the water hard, breath exploding out of his lungs at the pain of it all. He clawed his way to the surface, and just when his vision started going dark around the edges, he resurfaced. Gasping and choking, the water in his lungs burned more coming out than it did going in, and still before he even took in oxygen, he called out to his symbiote.

 

And got no reply.

 

Eddie swore, called Venom every nasty name he could think of, begged and sobbed for anything to let him know that his other was alive. The only sounds he heard were from a news helicopter overhead and the fiery wreckage.

\---

 

It took a long time for Eddie to swim out of the bay; the water was colder than he had always expected it to be, his chest hurt, and still he refused to believe the symbiote was dead, no matter how empty that place in his chest felt.

 

He'd read somewhere that denial was the first stage of grief, but he _refused_ to believe Venom was gone.

 

Laying on the sand wasn't much more comfortable than swimming was, but at least he had time to catch his breath and take stock of himself. Ribs? Probably broke a few, nothing serious. His back ached from reverse belly flopping into the water, when Venom came back he promised himself he'd yell at the damn alien parasite for that and for scaring years off his life. Legs, arms, fingers, toes? Fine, nothing hurt there. Head? Ached like a sonovabitch, pretty sure there was no concussion. He put a hand over his chest, the stab through his heart was entirely healed, he didn't even feel a scar.

 

Why was that a little bit disappointing? Having a scar would have been sloppy work for the symbiote. Leave no trace of damage, or whatever. He swallowed, sitting back up and beginning to look around the area for any trace of the alien left alive.

\---

 

"Oh, buddy." Eddie was on his knees, looking at the bit of black that washed up to shore. It was so tiny, singed around the edges, and completely still. He picked it up as gently as possible, hoping it would climb into him like it had when he was bleeding out and needed him. Like he needed the symbiote now. Or maybe...

 

Slowly, he raised the little thing to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss on it.

 

Nothing.

 

Eddie felt like he'd been punched in the gut. And still, he refused to believe Venom was dead. He was just hibernating, that was all. He'd be back and everything was going to be fine. But if he was too weak to bond...

 

No, he couldn't do that. He didn't even know how that would work.

 

Before he could talk himself out of it, he raised Venom back to his mouth, open this time, and put him in.

 

Venom.... didn't taste great. His body was like... what he imagined eating a live octopus was like. It didn't want to go down. He was just a little too big to swallow comfortably, and more than once Eddie thought he was going to vomit, but eventually the symbiote went down his throat, and he felt it settle in his chest. He stood up, desperate to get water.

 

_I'll keep us safe now, Venom. You just rest._

_\---_

 

It wasn't like he first time they'd bonded, when he was desperate to eat anything and everything, even rotting food in the trash. He was hungry, but he wasn't _hungry_ hungry. Maybe that was a good thing, eating out of the trash was not a fun go, if Venom hadn't been there, he was certain he would have been food poisoned.

 

If Venom hadn't been there...

 

Eddie wiped his eyes on his sleeve once more, not wanting to go down that path again. Every time he thought about the symbiote he felt bile rise in his throat, like the alien was trying to exit his body the way it had come in.

 

_Well tough, you're not quitting on me. I'm not quitting on you. On us._

 

He was starting to lose weight, which he was taking as a good sign. Things were being absorbed into his body, but not enough.

 

He'd just have to think a little bigger.

\---

 

Cannibalism was, obviously, out of his comfort zone. He couldn't afford to have Venom not covering his face, just imagining the evening news with Actual Cannibal, Eddie Brock as the headline made him shudder. One day, maybe, if he needed to, but he was working his way up to that.

 

The greeter at the pet store gave him a look he didn't quite understand, but it didn't scream 'you monster, stop thinking about those fish right now' so he was pretty sure he was in the clear.

 

The aquariums usually held so much fascination for him, they had no right to inspire... hunger. Or shame, remembering how Venom had climbed him into the lobster tank. Live seafood was something the symbiote liked, anything... alive.

 

He felt a little ill, but anything to keep Venom alive, no matter what.

 

"Uh... excuse me." Eddie asked a teen, trying to look less sweaty than he was. The teen looked unamused, "Can I-uh.... get a couple of the-" He turned back to look at the label, "Neon terta?" The teen looked at Eddie like he had personally mudered their dog, and Eddie felt like he had personally murdered their dog. He couldn't believe he was doing this.

 

"Anything else, sir?"

 

"...About a pound of the live crickets?"

\---

 

Eddie was sure the people were judging him as he left the pet store. He'd eyed the frogs, but decided that even if he could, that was far too expensive.

 

"You know what they say about if you gotta eat a frog?" He asked, and go no reply from either the symbiote, the cashier, or the teen who'd dog he was sure he'd done horrible things in front of, before telling it there was no Santa, and then murdering.

 

"You need help carrying these to your car? That aquarium is heavy." The cashier said, and Eddie just smiled at her, hopefully not a smile that Venom had made his face adopt. A good smile, full of years of experience on tv.

 

The cashier didn't look at ease in the slightest.

 

"I don't live far from here." Eddie said, hefting the aquarium filled with his bagged fish, fish food and chirping cricket boxes. "Thank you though. I'm sure my, uh... daughter." He didn't finish his sentence, just nodding and then walking out the sliding glass doors.

\---

 

"I don't think I can do this." Eddie had put all the tiny fish in a bucket, and from there into little mugs with the little green net. They were all just swimming slowly, and it called to all Eddie's naturing ways to get the aquarium set up and let them swim about and live out the remainder of their lives as happy little fishes.

 

The crickets though, a whole other matter.

 

"People in other countries eat crickets all the time, you know?" He told himself, holding a box in his hands, knowing that if he opened it he'd release a plague upon the whole apartment complex.

 

"Maybe I can put the crickets in the aquarium and just... get them out as needed." He gave each of the fish a bit of food, not wanting their last few moments of life being ones of starvation, then went about setting up the aquarium.

 

And now he had an aquarium full of live crickets, and a whole bunch of mugs of fish on the table.

 

"This isn't as bad as lobster. I can... totally do this." He'd put a whole jar of peanut butter next to the cricket enclosure, deciding if he dunked them, maybe their little legs wouldn't get in the way. He'd held a cricket in his hand and they moved like a motherfucker. "Could use your assistance, Venom. You can be like a lizard."

 

No response.

 

"Okay, guess I'll do this on my own."

 

He picked up a mug, deciding not to even look into the cup. He could do it like a shot, it'd be over real quick.

 

Tipping the mug into his mouth, the water hit his tongue like a fish market on Sundays. That taste was-

 

And once the fish was in his mouth it was moving, and-

 

He shook his head, but couldn't find it in his body to spit the poor thing out. He had to swallow or it would be traumatized for life.

 

_Swallow, swallow, swallow._

 

He slammed his fist down on the table, gasping when it finally went down.

 

It was still moving, he didn't like that he could feel it, but washed it down with some more water, after dumping out the rest of the mug to get rid of the fishy taste.

 

"You're so fucking lucky I love you." He hissed to himself.

 

And could swear he felt a twitch inside him that wasn't the fish.

\---

 

He'd finished off the rest of the fish, only because they didn't look like they were going to make it to morning if he hadn't.

 

And despite the gagging, he didn't throw up once.

 

"Tomorrow we'll eat the crickets." He told himself after collapsing on the bed, headfirst into the pillows. "And if that doesn't work... I'll figure something else out."

 

And he held onto the pillow, as if holding the symbiote's hand. "Good night, Venom."

\---

 

He did not wake up where he'd fallen asleep. At first he chalked it up to sleepwalking, and then, hopefully, he called out to the symbiote. "Ven-"

 

**Here.**

 

"Oh thank god." Tears sprang to Eddie's eyes, but this time of relief. He didn't have time to say anything else, his hands were full of crickets. And soon so was his mouth.

 

Eating crickets was about as pleasant as he thought it was going to be, and the peanut butter did not make it any better.

 

"I missed you so-" 

 

**Keep your mouth closed.**

 

Yeah, that was fair. When Venom released control of one of his arms, he used it to wipe his eyes.

 

_I thought you were gone._

 

**Would never leave us. You saved us.**

 

Eddie felt his heart flutter, and it wasn't just the crickets.

 

_Anytime, you saved my life so many times._

 

**You did very well.**

 

Eddie was pretty sure the crickets weren't going to be enough, and felt wordless agreement coming from his other.

 

**You did so much. Rest now, and we will hunt.**

 

"I'm not leaving you again." Eddie gasped when he had an empty mouth once more.

 

**Never.**

 

Eddie wrapped his arms around himself, unsure of what else to do, and just let himself be held.

 

"Promise me you'll never ever stop talking again."

 

**Until tomorrow when you tell me to shut up again.**

 

"Me? Never. Must have been some other loser."

 

Venom chuckled and slowly enveloped Eddie inside itself, and the embrace was the best thing the man had felt in his entire life.

 

" **No complaining tonight, Eddie. We aren't strong enough yet**." And even though Eddie didn't like it, he knew it was necessary. "Whatever we need."

 

" **And Eddie?** "

 

"What is it?"

 

" **Love you too.** "


End file.
